Apocalypse Forecast

The scream rose, then abruptly ceased. After a brief pause, it burst forth again.

Ripping the curse apart, breaking the darkness, shattering the spite.

Marching forward righteously.

Extinguishing evil.

In an instant, the broken sword in Huai Shi's hand had already penetrated her abdomen.

As if a natural nemesis, merely piercing the flesh, it brought severe damage to the Molting Snake Mark, causing Lin Yu to emit a despairing howl.

"How does it feel to be imbued with virtue?"

Huai Shi contemplated her twisted face and asked with a smile. His fingers slowly twisted the sword hilt, stirring the wound, making the screams and curses even sharper.

As he lifted his right hand and placed the Sacrificial Knife against Lin Yu's neck, the sound of the wind behind his head ceased abruptly.

The still-burning iron fork was but an inch away from the back of his head.

But that inch was as distant as Sky Gorge itself.

"Please give us some privacy, thank you."

Huai Shi slowly turned around and saw Guo Nu's livid face. His hand shook slightly, cutting Lin Yu's neck. Guo Nu's complexion changed dramatically, and under Huai Shi's threat, he reluctantly stepped back a few paces.

He waved his hand, signaling the other team members not to come forward.

Lin Yu's expression twisted, "Guo Nu, you useless trash, attack, kill him... AHHHHH!!!"

"Shhh!"

Huai Shi slightly twisted the sword hilt, cutting off her angry scolding and cursing, examining her twisted face for the first time with real seriousness.

Only now did he notice: Even distorted by such anger and ferocity, that face was still considered beautiful.

Indeed a rare beauty.

"We meet again, auntie. Do you really use skincare products?"

He remarked softly, "Why don't you take care of the wounds on your face? Here, let me help you…"

Casually, he smeared some Silver Blood Potion on her, allowing the quickly hardening potion to seal her mouth, and finally, with a CLICK, a metal ring was placed around her neck.

Connected to an Alchemy Bomb the size of a fist.

"Step back."

Huai Shi reiterated to the air beside him, "Step back further."

Guo Nu's face changed, he clenched his teeth, waved his hand, and a faint sound stirred in the air, as if something was moving away.

"I said, step back."

Huai Shi suddenly twisted the sword hilt, causing Lin Yu, whose mouth was sealed, to emit a muffled scream and convulse violently, "Sorry, I can't see where invisible people are hiding. Could you please turn off that piece of equipment?"

As if asking someone to turn off the light before bed, polite and gentle, yet making Guo Nu's face twitch. After a long time, Guo Nu waved his hand again, and behind him, a figure carrying what looked like a radio backpack emerged, followed by the surrounding Sublimators revealing themselves.

Nine in total.

Huai Shi waved his hand, and a thin Lock Chain with black smoke and sparks flew out, sweeping around in a rapid, erratic motion twice before suddenly binding something, tightening and pulling it in front of Huai Shi.

Huai Shi raised his hand, and the Axe Blade fell.

A Golden Coin hit the ground.

He exhaled, feeling refreshed, securing The Sorrow of Index to Lin Yu's body, as if tethering a fierce beast, holding the chain, and finding a clean Stone to sit on. He looked up and scrutinized the unpleasant-looking enemies before him.

Only a little over half a minute had passed.

Xi Jiang, who was leading the search in the woods, rushed back with his men. Seeing the scene before him, they instantly understood what had happened, and their expressions turned ferocious.

"Now that everyone is here," Huai Shi said with a smile, "we can have a proper talk."

"There's nothing to talk about."

Guo Nu said expressionlessly, "You let her go, we let you go."

"Are you dreaming?"

Huai Shi laughed, pointing to the ground beneath his feet, "If anyone dares to take one step further from where you are now, I'll kill her, immediately. Even if I can't cause her any harm, I can still make her withdraw from the race."

"You said it yourself, you can only make her withdraw from the race."

Guo Nu said coldly, "It's just a game after all, Huai Shi. You've got no more chips in your hand; your only choice is to accept my terms—you let her go, and I can let you go."

"So, we're just going to let it all go to ruin then?"

Huai Shi shrugged, "I don't really care. After all, at worst, I can just dust myself off and go back to the Astronomical Society. You know the Astronomical Society, right? I'm a promising operative. Even if I lose the match and don't get a ranking, my previous performance speaks for itself. Who could deny my strength? However, you'll be the one in trouble then, won't it?"

He scrutinized Guo Nu's face with a smile, "The Lin family seems to be quite powerful, eh? They hired you to work like a dog, just so she could withdraw from the race?"

Guo Nu's expression faltered, and under the mockery of the boy's smile, he actually felt a sense of powerlessness.

Like these Border mercenaries who are accustomed to dirty work, even if they seem free, aren't they just Hyenas at someone's beck and call?

With no control over advancing or retreating.

He was silent for a long while before asking, "What exactly do you want?"

"I haven't really thought about it yet."

Huai Shi scratched his head and shrugged, "Depends on your sincerity."

"KILL HIM!!!"

Lin Yu struggled furiously, ignoring the wounds on her face, forcibly tearing at the corner of her mouth, and shrieked sharply, "Don't mind me, I want him dead!"

SNAP!

Huai Shi snapped his fingers, and the sound stopped abruptly; The Sorrow of Index was already stuffed into her mouth.

But Guo Nu immediately heard the footsteps of Xi Jiang approaching.

The shattered Yi Zi mask was filled with ferocity.

He turned around and glared, "What are you doing?"

"Didn't hear what the boss said?"

Xi Jiang's expression was sinister, "I'm fucking sick of it, you know? Shouldn't have trusted you, motherfucker... Negotiate? Negotiate my ass! When have I ever negotiated with a bastard holding hostages?!"

Huai Shi's expression remained unchanged, just slightly twisting the hilt of the sword. In an instant, Lin Yu's body convulsed violently, twitching in agony as the Sacrificial Knife on her neck pressed down a fraction more.

The blade greedily absorbed her vitality, leaving Lin Yu's face ever paler.

Guo Nu reached out, stopping Xi Jiang, "Stop, Old Xi, don't go forward."

"Where's what you promised me?"

Xi Jiang retorted, "So many of my fucking brothers are dead, where's the stuff you promised me? If you don't give it, I'll take it myself!"

He shoved Guo Nu aside, drew his sword, and walked towards Huai Shi.

Guo Nu turned his head, saw the slight smile at the corner of Huai Shi's mouth, calm and indifferent, as if watching some joke that was none of his business. He sighed and gave a look to his subordinates.

Then, drawing an iron fork, he thrust it out fiercely.

Xi Jiang's steps faltered.

He turned in astonishment, spewing blood.

"You again..."

"Sorry, Old Xi." Guo Nu looked into his eyes, "I had no choice."

Just like when he had backstabbed him years ago, Xi Jiang cursed, spit out a mouthful of blood, and fell backwards to the ground.

As he hit the ground, the backlash of the oath came. In the void, a phantom of the Xie Zhi emerged, opened its mouth abruptly, and sucked away one-third of Guo Nu's life and one-third of his total Source Substance, eliminating one-third of the Stigma—permanently, an injury that would not heal even after he left this game.

But as he lay dying, Xi Jiang refused to let go of this man who had betrayed him again, using all his strength to lift his military blade, sending all his vitality into it.

The light of Rage of the Eyebrow rose with the military blade, slashing towards Guo Nu.

At the same time, those subordinates who had received instructions from Guo Nu boldly attacked Xi Jiang's men, and both sides immediately erupted into chaos.

Golden Coins kept dropping to the ground.

What a show.

In the midst of the chaos, even a piece of invisible dark gold equipment was tracked down and shattered by the military blade, but in Guo Nu's counterattack, that blade also shattered into pieces.

He supported himself with the iron fork, struggling for breath.

In the end, only three people were left standing. With a signal from Guo Nu, a man named Mu En stepped forward and, with a knife in hand, finished off the remaining gasping opponents.

What a mess.

Only fourteen Golden Coins were thrown over.

"The sincerity you wanted."

Guo Nu stared hard into Huai Shi's eyes, "Now, let her go."

Huai Shi started to laugh, retorted, "You only have three men left, what will you use to negotiate with me? How about this, you kill the other two, then kill yourself, and I will let her go. My word is my bond, how about that?"

"And then chase after her and kill her? Don't play that game with me..." Guo Nu sneered, "How about I negotiate with this?"

He bent down and picked up a heavy package from the Border Relic that Xi Jiang had dropped. An embedded countdown timer and the familiar red and blue wires clearly indicated it was an Alchemy Explosive.

"This stuff Xi Jiang prepared, one pack, enough to send half this park sky-high," Guo Nu said, "Let her go, let her leave, or we die together."

"How can I trust you?" Huai Shi asked indifferently.

"Mu En! Mu En! Where the hell did you die?"

Guo Nu shouted, calling over the stooped, aging middle-aged man. The man opened his palm, revealing the last vanishing tattoo as the phantom of the Xie Zhi emerged again.

"You let her go free, and I'll throw away the explosive,"

Guo Nu panted, his eyes locked on Huai Shi, "We can settle our differences later. Otherwise, let's die together now."

"Fine."

Huai Shi nodded.

The Xie Zhi phantom surveyed the area, then turned and vanished.

The contract was established.

Then, Huai Shi snapped his fingers, and in an instant, The Sorrow of Index slackened. But before Lin Yu could make a move, his palm fiercely grabbed onto the sword hilt, tearing a huge wound.

In the midst of sudden screams, the Sacrificial Knife slid across Lin Yu's wrist, nimbly picking out two negligible tendons and severing them.

Finally, it entered her thigh.

"Run, girl."

Huai Shi let go, watching that resentful face, took a step back, and said with a smile, "Run, the further the better before I come to find you."

"One day, Huai Shi, one day..." Lin Yu looked at him deeply, her pale face twisted into a sickly, ferocious expression, "I will make you regret everything you've done today."

"Is that so? That's a shame."

Huai Shi shrugged helplessly, "I've already regretted my actions, just a while ago. But sadly, the person who made me regret isn't you."

Lin Yu said no more, bit her lip, endured the intense pain, hastily froze the wound with the Molting Snake Mark, and turned to leave.

"A little faster now!"

Huai Shi watched her receding figure, shouting, "I'll be coming to find you soon, remember to hide well!"

Lin Yu sped up, staggering as she ran.

Soon, she was gone at the end of the street.

In the deadly silence, Huai Shi's gaze left her, and he turned to look at Guo Nu.

"Now, it's your turn."

The Knife and Axe fell from his hands, colliding.

Sparks flew.

Illuminating his eyes, where ghost-fires danced.

"Be quick, gentlemen."

He said, "I'm in a hurry."